Larval Progress Update

Despite the late spring and generally poor May iris larval progress is well within the band of normality - i.e. they are currently in the late 4th / early 5th instar stages.  Some decent weather is forecast for the start of June, which means many should be full grown by around June 7th. 

At this range the first males should appear in the 'early' sites at the end of June and the bulk of emergence will occur during early July - BUT so much depends on weather during the pupal stage (June).  They can shoot through the pupal stage in a little over 2 weeks or get stuck in it for over 4 weeks, as happened last year. 

Watch this space.  Meanwhile, here's one of my captive larvae -